Two Vanessa Redgrave flms
laraine
movies from the library: 'Letters to Juliet'
and 'Mary Queen of Scots'.
The Mary Scots I haven't seen anywhere for
many years -- I recall watching it on the
big screen in Radio Music City Hall in the
70's, but it's not been readily available
since. Don't know why, because it's at a
similar level of quality as the Glenda
Jackson Elizabeth series of the same era.
(Glenda Jackson is in the Mary film as well.)
Perhaps it is because of the violence in
the film, though little or no blood is shown.
It is basically not triumphant for any of the characters,
unlike the Elizabeth and even Henry VIII stories, so
maybe some don't care for it. Ah well, an heir
did come out of it, as for Anne Boleyn.
Darnley, played by Timothy Dalton, is
the character most remembered, dressed
in a dashing white princelike suit that
matches Mary's white dresses and light
blonde hair. He tries to take charge and
then makes a dangerous fool out of himself.
I really liked the way they portrayed Mary's
character. She seems very intelligent
and likeable, but adheres to beliefs
that get her in trouble, such as that
she should be the rightful ruler of
England.
Some facts I wasn't sure about, for
example, was Elizabeth really behind
sending Darnley as well as Dudley in
order to manipulate Mary into that
marriage...
And did Elizabeth ever meet Mary --two
meetings occurred during the film.
The other recent film, 'Letters to Juliet'
is somewhat sentimental, but I liked the
theme: Keep chasing after your dreams or
goals, and don't assume that the seemingly
impossible won't happen. Some very fine
acting in this film.
Apparently, there is really a wall in Verona
where people do leave notes to Juliet, sort
of like a Dear Abby. And it seems to be
near a house similar to what Juliet's house
must have been like.
C.
hj
> And did Elizabeth ever meet Mary --two meetings occurred during the film.
==> They never met. That's a problem with the motion picture industry.
Don't let actual history get in the way of a story (see: "Anonymous").
hj
Hans Lick
(Schiller, Donizetti ...) has Mary meet Elizabeth.
Except the (exceptionally accurate, though not perfect) Glenda Jackson
"Elizabeth R" series.
Avoid Cate Blanchett's ghastly Elizabeth at all costs! (Mary, of
course, does not appear in it anyway.)
Katherine Hepburn's Mary Queen of Scots is fun, if only for Fredric
March in a kilt.
By the way: Redgrave plays Anne Boleyn in a (wordless) cameo in A Man
for All Seasons.
Elizabeth was aware of Mary's famous charm ... she ducked any
opportunity for Mary to exercise it on HER. And she had no intention
of proclaiming Mary (or anyone else) her heir, and seeing them turn
into a rival power in the land. Although she did everything she could
to ensure James's happy accession, she would never say so publicly,
which made him crazy.
Elizabeth tried to prevent Darnley going to Scotland; she distrusted
all of her relatives with claims to the English throne (and rightly),
and as Darnley was a grandson of Margaret Tudor (Henry VIII's sister),
just as Mary was, Elizabeth feared and opposed their union. For
claiming the English throne, their marriage was a good idea ... but
Darnley was a stupid, immature boy and totally out of his depth in
nasty Scottish politics. The only thing he ever did right was get Mary
pregnant. And he did his best to cause a miscarriage.
In her later years, Mary was quite imperious: When James got in touch
with her, she demanded that he give her her throne back and become a
Catholic. He lost interest in getting her out of prison at that point.
If Elizabeth had died before Mary, it is very unlikely that the powers
that were would have permitted Mary to take the throne; they knew
she'd start by killing all of them (Prots the lot). It is one reason
they nagged Elizabeth to execute her. Mary really did plot an
assassination, having given up any hope of escape in any other way;
Elizabeth was still reluctant to execute a reigning queen. It set a
terrible precedent.
Only when Mary was out of the way (and James, and Darnley's brother
and HIS daughter all disqualified as Prots), did Philip II of Spain
begin plans for an invasion of England, hoping to put his own elder
daughter on its throne -- he was descended from John of Gaunt (several
times), and felt that she would represent the next Catholic
Plantagenet heir. He had not done this while Mary was alive, because
he considered her to be a Frenchwoman, almost as awkward for him on
the English throne as a Protestant would be.
It is interesting to note that Mary offered her hand in marriage to
many men after she fled to England (Don Carlos, the Duke of Norfolk,
etc.). Apparently she regarded herself as unmarried; the union with
Bothwell (which was a Protestant marriage, as well as never recognized
by the Scottish parliament) meant nothing at all to her. He had
certainly raped her and probably forced her (by this time pregnant
with a child later born dead) into the match. This was NOT a great
love affair!
Jean Coeur de Lapin
John W Kennedy
I just saw Jean Simmons in 1953's "Young Bess". The basic plot is nonsense, but it has some terrific costumes, etc., and the following splendid interchange:
Thomas Seymour: If you were queen of England, what would you do, eh? Would you give your admiral the opportunity to do great deeds?
Princess Elizabeth: I'd give him the opportunities he never dared dream about. I'd send him around the globe as the Portuguese do. I'd send him to the New World to let the Spaniards know that they are no longer masters of it.
Seymour: That won't be easy. We're a small country, Bess.
Elizabeth: That can be remedied, Tom. It CAN be remedied!
--
John W Kennedy
"Sweet, was Christ crucified to create this chat?"
-- Charles Williams. "Judgement at Chelmsford"